Long Lost One
by Carrot
Summary: When a mystery girl arrives at the "Nick of Time" clocktower, the Power Rangers take her in. Little do they know how special the girl really is...
1. Part I

Long Lost One...

Long Lost One... **Disclaimer**

  
Kami-sama, what is UP with me and all this long-lost sister crap? O_o;; It's weird, I tells ya...x.x;; Anyway, uhm...PRTF is owned by Saban Inc. and uhm...*thinks* whoever ORIGINALLY made it in wunnerful Nihon! o*_*o Ano...onto my "wonderful" story...n.N;;

Part I

I was lost. Yea...lost, cold, hungry, and almost definitly alone in the world. Of course supposedly I had a brother and my "birth father" on this wonderful continent known as North America.

Yea. Wonderful my ass.

Here I am, a seventeen-year-old girl with barely anything to my name, starving because I had only enough money to get me over here by a low-class boat, not knowing where to go. They said that it'd be most wise to ask my birth father for residence since he's technically my new guardian...

Screw that. The guy's a bastard. For one thing, he's never paid any child support to me..._ever_. I'd like to see some payup here. Yet my older brother was a year older than me...which means that he MUST be out of the house by now! Maybe...just _maybe_...I could live with him!

Grinning and shouldering my backpack back on, I walked towards the local pay phone to look at the most recent phone book...  


___________________________

"Wow, it's raining now," Jen noted, looking out the window. "Really hard, too...I don't remember any rain like this from--"

"Yea," Lucas said for her. "Don't talk about it...for the love of God, don't talk about it."

"Well, exCUSE me!" she said, turning around. "I was just noting about how MUCH it was raining!"

"Everyone, please calm down!" Circuit yelled over the commotion that was about to erupt in the small clocktower that everyone was situated in. "Okay, so we haven't exactly been sucessful in getting home...but there's no need for a panic! Not only that, but the both of you know better! Fighting like this...you know you should be focusing your energy on trying to find where Ransik is and what he's doing!"

"But how are we supposed to do that when we have no idea where to start, Circuit?" Trip asked, fiddling with one of his newest inventions. "Ransik could be anywhere...and despite the ammount of time we've been here, we're still not any closer!"

"I know," Circuit said dejectedly, looking down at his metal claw feet. "Even so...we could try to think up new ways!" "New ways of what?" Wes asked, "sneaking" up on everyone in the small loft. The forementioned people turned around to see him there, grinning as usual.

"Well...getting home," Trip said dejectedly, looking down at his gadget again as he started to work harder on it.

Wes seemed as if he was going to say something, but then suddenly the door knocked. Thinking that Katie might be coming home, they all went downstairs to answer the door.

But instead of who they were expecting, they saw a girl, a bit younger than themselves, on the doorstep looking like a drowned rat.

She was skinny and pale with bright red hair streaked in green and yellow. She wore dark green capris, an orange hankerchief halter top, a gray heather sweatshirt, and dark-colored sneakers. Her hair was piled up on top of her head and held together with some bamboo hair sticks. She also had a small bookbag stuffed full with...well, stuff. By the looks of things, it wasn't as if she was going out for the Miss Universe contest anytime soon with her bedraggled appearance.

Looking up, it was seen that she had sky-blue eyes that were glazed over in fever and pinkish cheeks sprinkled with freckles. Her face had an admiring look upon Wes and she looked as if she was going to say something.

Finally it seemed as if she said something...something very very soft.

"O...ni...i...chan," she murmured before passing out at Wes's feet.

Lucas stared. "That's bad, isn't it?"

"Well duh," Trip said. "Wes, why don'tcha pick her up? You're strong 'nuff too...and we can't be leavin' her out here to get sicker than she already is!"

That got Wes back into focus. "OH YEA! How stupid I must be," he muttered, picking the small girl up and taking her to the loft.

The girl kept on murmuring the same word over and over...until finally she just drifted into a fitfull sleep.  


___________________________

I woke up someplace weird. I remember someone that looked like 'Niichan carrying me up the stairs...but not much else. Yet I could never quite stay asleep once the rays of the sun hit my face; I never really could. I lived in the country, so I wasn't accustomed to staying asleep.

I slowly opened my eyes and adjusted them to my surroundings. The first thing--or person, rather--I saw was a boy slightly older than me with bright green hair and a weird thing in the middle of his forehead. I blinked, thinking that I was seeing things.

"Oro? Nani ka?!" I gasped, looking at the boy's forehead. Obviously he was dozing, but even at my soft whisper of an exclamation, he woke up, blinking almond-shaped brown eyes. The guy was tan too...aww, he was pretty cute, actually. Well not CUTE but cute but--oh, forget it. >.>;;

"Oh...you're awake!" he said in perfect Japanese, smiling.

Ohmikami-sama, he can speak JAPANESE! This might be a disadvanged though, since I might want to cuss out my brother at a certain point and time and he might be able to translate...uh oh.

"H...hai! O namae wa?" I asked tentatively, smiling weakly.

"Ore wa Trip-san!" he said, grinning. "You speak any English?" he asked softly. "Might help with the rest."

"Yea," I said. "My mom was American."

"Then what were you doing in Japan?"

"How'd you know THAT?!" I asked, alarmed.

He smacked his forehead. "I might as well warn you now...I'm alien."

"You mean that you're an illegal immigrant?" I asked, confused.

"No...as in, I'm from another planet."

"You're joking," I asked, giving him a weird look.

"Nope. I'm not joking either when I say that I'm from the year 3000."

By now, my jaw had dropped. "You HAVE to be joking now!"

"Nooope," he said, grinning. "But that doesn't explain how I knew that you were from Japan...y'see, I can sorta read minds...only occasionally, of course. But I'm telling you the truth...I'm not lying. Ask Jen after bit to prove my point," he said, pointing towards a sleeping girl with reddish-brown hair that was perpetually tied up in a pony-tail. "Odd...she's sleeping in today."

"She sorta seems kinda scary," I said, pulling up my blankets. "I haven't introduced myself or why I'm here...I'm Akira Haruyama. Lessee...I'm seventeen and my parents died a few months ago in a fire."

"I'm sorry," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. I smiled softly and patted his hand.

"'Sokie...eventually, I was gonna hafta go out on my own, anyway. But since I'm underage, the Japanese goverment insisted that I come over to the States since my only living relatives were here...I'm looking for my half-brother, Wesley Collins. Know where he is?"

"Wes? He carried you up here yesterday! He was wondering why you were calling him 'Oniichan'...you kept on whispering that when you were coming up here. I told him what it meant...and then he was confused because he didn't know why you were calling him your older brother. Hey...I didn't know that Wes had any family other than his father!"

"His father and my mother sorta had an affair when Wes was a year old. My mother's husband died a month before and my father...he's technically my dad...well, I don't know why he did it. Needless to say, nine months later, I was born. Simple as that, you could say."

"Oh...that's interesting," Trip said, looking at a small blue owl that was flapping its wings and moving its eyes open and closed. "Circuit! Come over here and meet Akira!"

"Huh? Oh, okie," the small owl said, "flying" over. Once he was in Trip's lap safely, he looked at me and smiled. "Hello, Akira. I'm Circuit. I see you've met Trip...how about Wes and the others?"

"I'm afraid I haven't the pleasure," I said, smiling. "Since everyone's been so nice as to let me in, how about I cook them breakfast? Good idea, no?"

Trip grinned. "I sure know I'm hungry. What're you gonna make?"

"I was thinking of...your traditional bacon and eggs. That is, if we have any."

Circuit nodded. "We do, we do! Now go on...cook!"

I smiled. "Aye aye, captain!"  


___________________________

I smelled something I hadn't smelled in a long time--

Bacon. Delicious, mouthwatering bacon...and eggs! Scrambled...and do I detect the slightest bit of _cheese_ along with them?

_"Ping,"_ went the toaster, singing the arrival of toast into the world. Oh...this can't be true! Or can it?

"Hey...everybody! Wake up," I hissed, running around as I poked everyone in the side. "Wake up...smell that? Breakfast!"

"Hnn," Jen replied. "Shaddup. I'm tryin' to sleep in for once." Then I noticed that she was slowly and delicately sniffing the air. "Aaa...is that what I think it is?"

Katie sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. "Bacon and eggs?"

Lucas grinned, throwing back his blankets. "Yep! And toast too! OHMIGOD! Coffee! This must be the good stuff...ohmigod, it actually smells like real coffee!"

"Hey!" Katie said, faking an offended look. "My coffee isn't that bad..."

Lucas gave her a Look. "Yea...if you like it _solid_."

"THAT'S IT!" Katie shouted, chasing him downstairs.

As they bounded down the steps, I grinned at Jen. "Can't make any excuses now...everyone's goin' downstairs...now you hafta go too!"

"Fiine," she said, getting up slowly. "But I'm only doin' it for the grub."

"Naturally," I said, smirking. "I wouldn't expect anything else."

When we got down there, I saw the same small girl that I had helped carry upstairs last night cooking breakfast. She turned around and smiled for a minute and suddenly, it was as if I remembered her...

_"Daddy, who's that girl in that picture?" I had asked as a small boy, pointing to a picture of a small girl with bright red hair. She was smiling and posing for a picture in front of a rice field._

"That's...a small girl that you're related to," he said, getting nervously.

"How?" I had asked, confused.

"Don't ask me such stupid questions. I have to work now...shoo." And with that, he waved off my annoying question.

Later I had asked one of the servants that I knew would be gossipy enough to tell me who that girl was. I was intelligent enough to choose someone nosy; I found out that she was my half-sister via some weird affair that my dad had when he was drunk half the time on a buisness trip. I was about sixteen by then, so I had vowed deep inside that I'd find her somehow...but after I had graduated.

I had graduated...but now that I was one of the Time Force Rangers, I had sort of forgotten about the little girl...but I had stolen the picture off of my dad's desk. I doubted that he really missed it, anyway.

Looking at the picture, it said in small letters:

_"Akira Haruyama - Age 7 - 23 April 1991"_

So she's a year younger than I am...interesting. The girl that was cooking breakfast looked like an older version...with green and yellow hair streaks through her longish bangs. Hmm...how interesting.

"Uh...yo. Sup?"

"Not much," she said, a slight trace of an accent on her voice. "You?"

"Uh...what's your name?"

"Akira Haruyama. Why?"

**End of Part I**

Whee...fun fun fun! >.>;; Woo! ^^; Fun fun fun! *dances weirdly* Uhm...well, give me questions, comments, etc...whatever floats your boat. ^_^V Gotta jet - Yoshiko 


	2. Part II

Long Lost One - Part II

Long Lost One... **Disclaimer**

  
Ohoho...here's my disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers Time Force; Saban/The People That Made It In Japan own it. Isn't that nice? Oh yes.  
Ooops! Almost forgot...you might want to know a little bit about Akira. ^^; It'll help, believe me. *grin*

  * Name: Haruyama, Akira (Last name first. ^^;) 
  * Age: 17 
  * Birthday: February 20, 1984 
  * Other: Akira's a happy-go-lucky technology-obsessed kid with her brother's outlook on life along with a bit more feist and a lot less kinder toungue than Wes. Despite the fact that she has an American bloodline, she's Japanese on the inside with her mannerisms, tastes in food, and language. She used to be a junior officer for the local police department in her small rural town that was nearby the city/town of Nagano, so she's really talented with guns...a sharpshooter of sorts. Not only is she uncannily handy with guns--she often shoots before you see her pull it out of the holster--but there's something else about her that barely anyone can put their finger on... 

Part II

Interesting...the guy that's supposedly my brother asked my name. Was he suspecting anything, either? Might be easier with him revealing it.

"So...what's yours?" I asked, putting one hand on my hips as I gracefully took the eggs off the range and put them on a plate.

"Well..."

"Tell me or the eggs die," I said, smiling as I held them over the trash can.

Immediately, his four other comrades started to tell me for him instead.

"He's Wesley Collins!...His dad's a millionaire!...He runs lots of companies!..."

"Oro?!" I asked, blinking. Well so far, so good. I then saw a small picture in his hand. I narrowed my eyes and walked over, placing the eggs on the small table in the middle of the "kitchen".

"What's this?" I asked, pointing to it. "I want to see...please?"

Immediately, he frowned. "You're very demanding."

"Yes. I know. Now show it. Do I have to say please with my fists?"

"I'm just a good--if not better, most likely--fighter as you probably are...but here," he said, probably worrying about "hurting" me. God, men with their egos.

I took the picture and looked at it, studying the face closely.

There, standing in front of Otousan's rice field, was me at seven. I remembered that day...I was helping plant the newest crop of rice...for me, who got tons of breaks, it was fun. For the people who had to do it as a job, it wasn't...but they said they were thankful for my help.

"W-where'd you get this picture?" I asked. "Certainly not from some relief program that tries to help poor, unfortunate kids...because I had plenty of money growing up. Maybe not as much as you, but most certainly enough."

"No...it's from my dad. Supposedly the kid in the picture's my little sister. Know any Akira Haruyama hereabouts?"

I smirked. "Smart-ass."

"Yes. I know. So're you."

"Must run in the family," I said, grinning.

"Well, are ya gonna give family any reconition or not?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I'll just sit on my ass here all day ignorin' ya. Or..." I said, "I could do this." And with that, I practically pounced him with a gigantic hug.

"ONIICHAN!"

"That's a good thing, right?" he asked, groaning. "Your hug's about as tight as Katie's!"

"Yep...means 'older brother'. I could be calling you 'Oniisan', but that's sorta formal...be glad I feel familiar 'nuff with you that I'm callin' you 'Oniichan'...it's a good thing."

"Uh, yea...whatever. Nice to know you're alive though," he said, ruffling my hair.

"What kinda shit that's s'posed to mean?" I asked, sorta hurt.

"It means that I've been looking for you ever since I knew you existed and now that you're here all safe and stuff, I feel relieved. Hey...you said you lived in Japan before. Why'd you come all the way over here anyway?"

I started to get a dejected look in my eyes. "Uh...well, my mom and foster dad of sorts died. There was a big fire at our house..." I started to explain the rest but my voice broke. Shaking my head, I decided to get myself introduced to everyone else.

"So, I don't belive I've been properly introduced. Uh...hi?" I said meekly, waving my hand slowly.

"I'm Jen," the girl with the ponytail said. "This's Lucas, and that's Katie."

"Hi," said Lucas. "Sup?" said Katie, grinning.

"Hey. Not much," I said. "Already met Trip an'...Wes, right?"

"Yea. Call me Wes. The Oniichan stuff's a bit too much for me to handle."

"Got it," I said, grinning. "That's cool. Uh...know the nearest school?"

"Huh? You're not outta school yet?" everyone asked, giving me odd looks.

"Nope. Only seventeen...capiche?" I asked, grinning. Everyone nodded slowly, giving me odd looks.

"Yea...I think there's one a few blocks down," Lucas said. "Uh...so, think you'll be needin' a ride?"

"Why can't I use a bike?" I asked. Then I turned to Wes. "Dude...have any bikes around here?"

"Uh...uh..."

"Or I could walk," I said.

"You don't _understand_," Katie said, grinning. "The guy's crazy 'bout driving...you HAVE to let him drive you to school!"

"Well, I guess..."

"REALLY? WOOHOO!"

"Okay," I said, as I backed into a corner. "Uhm...how about everyone eats? That sound good? Food food food!" I said, sounding nervous as I shoved everyone towards the table. "And please, make sure not to accidentally run me over when you come pick me up...you sound like a speed demon to me."

"Uhh," was all that Lucas replied with. Figures. -_-;;

It then suddenly occured to me that it might just be the slightest bit odd that they were all living together in a clock tower...with an alien from the year 3000. There _must_ be a reason. Must be...

"So," I said nonchalantly as I placed the plate of bacon and toast on the table, "why're you all living together like this? There must be a reason 'cept for saving money on the rent...there's something about all of you...can't put my finger on it...mind tellin' me, or is that classified information?"

Jen looked at me, a serious look on her face. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Well obviously! Otherwise I wouldn't of asked! Spill the beans...please?"

"Fine...but you have to promise to take us seriously and that you will NOT laugh once you hear why we're here. Promise, Akira?"

"Of course," I said. Why would you laugh at someone when they promise that they're telling the truth?

Little did I know how far-fetched her story would sound.  


___________________________

"Phhsh. Ransik think he's such a great villain...he knows nothing," a voice hissed in the darkness, large black wings visible only by a small thin white line of light shining from behind the gigantic figure.

"He knows nothing of tactics, time-travel, or how to truly persecute the weak. He knows nothing of entrapment...all talk and no action. Heh...he doesn't even know how to get into a human's mind."

"Darkgami," a small lizard-like human said, bowing in front of the large black winged organism, "we are ready for departure for the United States as we speak."

"How nice...that girl tried to escape me once. But not again..._never_ again will she try to escape my lure...she shall join me...her parents paid the price for her being so stubborn once. Perhaps I should have her brother pay the price as well."

"Excellent plan, sir," the small lizard-man said, clapping. "Excellent plan!"

The two beings started to cackle in the darkness, their laughter echoing into the nightfall of Tokyo.  


___________________________

"Whatcha doin'?" I asked Akira after breakfast. She seemed to take Jen's explanation pretty well...as well as Wes's knowledge of her before hand. Pretty tough stuff, probably.

"Ikebana, Katie-san," she said, sticking another flower into the vase. "Or as you Americans'd call it, flower-arranging. Ikebana's really relaxing for me...gets my mind clear. Shimeta?"

"Huh?" I said, confused with her bilingual lapse.

"Oh! Sorry..._shimeta_ basically means 'you understand?' in Japanese...sorry. Tough remembering to speak straight English all the time...Trip's handy though. I can speak in Japanese and he knows what I'm saying."

"Yep...Trip's pretty smart. Speaking of which...or rather, speaking of all of us, what do you think of all of us here?" I asked, wanting to know in part what the small, spunky kid thought of us.

"Well...Jen's sorta stiff. So's Lucas...kinda. You're pretty nice and so's Wes...but I can relate with Trip more. He seems to know a lot about computers..."

"And that's good 'cos...?" I asked, interested.

"Cos I'm a major computer geek. I've rebuilt about fifty computers from scratch...mama always said that I got that from her side of the family. I got a lot from her side of the family...looks, talent traits. I got some from my father's too...like my personality, she said."

"That's for certain," I said. "You remind me of Wes sometimes...it's funny, in a way." I smiled. "Don't take that as anything to offense you, 'kay?"

"None taken. Knew you didn't mean anything by it," she said, sticking the last flower in. "Ah...perfect! Like it, Katie-san?" she said, showing me the vase. It was beautiful, with the darker-colored flowers in the center and the lighter ones fading out, making it look like a sunset going out from the middle...or somethign like that. At any rate, it looked really nice...and I told Akira that. She looked pretty happy.

"Really? Y'think so?"

"Yep. In fact, why don't you put it downstairs in the foyer? It'd look nice there...don'tcha think so, Wes?" I asked, seeing that he had just come up at that moment.

"What...OHMIGOD! Akira, where'd you steal that from?" he asked, amazed.

"I didn't steal it from anywhere! I did it myself!" she said, looking offended.

"Uh uh...no way, no how."

"Yes how. Ask Katie-san. She saw me do so...ne?"

"She's tellin' the truth," I vouched. "Nice, isn't it?"

"I've seen professional arrangements that look lesser than that! Y'now, dad'd pay a lot to have...that at one of his banquets," he said dully.

"At least you got to live with him," she said softly. "He's technically a dead-beat...either that or he forgot I lived...anyway, wanna help me get this downstairs?"

"Sure!" he said, taking it from her hands as he went downstairs. She grinned.

"I think I'll like him," she said, smiling softly.

"You will. Sure as hell as I do," I said, hugging her as lightly as possible to my side. "Once you get to know everyone, you'll like 'em...even Lucas and Jen."

"Really?" she asked, curious.

"Really," I said, leading her downstairs.  


___________________________

I had decided to go on a walk around the neighborhood after Katie-san had helped me with the large vase of flowers that I had arranged. I told them that I needed to get a lay of the land and that I'd be back in a bit. Yet when I came back, they weren't there...which was weird.

"Hellooo? Konnichi waaaaaa...everyone? Everybody? MINNNAAAAAA!" I shouted into the dark tower.

Circuit waved his wings and flashed his eyes as a greeting. "Akira! While you were gone--"

"Don't tell me--they all went out to beat Ransik's butt, right?" I asked, sitting down at a table by the ledge that Circuit was perched on.

"Yep!" the small blue bird said and suddenly I smiled. He was so adorable, Circuit...he was almost like the pet I've always wanted but never had. Oh, and did I mention how adorable he was? Sooo cute!

"Well, we're not so sure that it's Ransik this time...but he might be part of Ransik's team of evil!" Circuit said.

Suddenly, I felt a twang--as if someone that I had known from a long time ago had suddenly made a presence somewhere closeby...someone evil.

"Circuit...how do you think I could contact one of the Rangers?" I asked, panic starting to wave though me.

"Uhm...well..." he started as he explained the whole thing. I nodded and proceeded.

"Hey...any of you hear me? 'S me...'Kira!" I said, talking fast.

"Akira?" I heard my brother say over the other line. "What're you--"

"Where're you fighting?" I asked as the concern started to wash over me.

"Why?"

"Just tell me!" I sobbed.

"Fine fine...over by the old warehouses...know where that is? Akira...AKIRA?!"

I was already making my way out the door.

**End of Part II**

Whee...questions? Comments! YEa...send me some. OHOHOHO! o@_@O;; Whee...x.x;;


	3. Part III

Long Lost One - Part III

Long Lost One...

**Disclaimer**  
*starts to sound monotone* Power Rangers Time Force doesn't belong to me; it belongs to Saban/People In Japan Who Made It. Yay. Woohoo. Enjoy my giving up of that. Now I'm gonna write...yay yay yay! n.N;

Part III

It was odd, having Akira page me like that. I shook my head afterwords and turned towards the enemy...whatever it was. It didn't make much noise in the way of speaking, but when it came to just noise, it made tons.

"_Grrrruuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnttttt!_" it howled as it started to attempt to blare at us. We, however, dissolved the attack in time with a few well-placed attacks of our own.

Yet as he started to throw some rock-like thing at us, suddenly a person jumped up in front of us and caught it.

Landing to the ground, we all realized with the bright hair and body build that it could only be one person--

Akira.

_Damn,_ I thought, I just HAD to open my big mouth and tell her where we were!

She started to talk in rapid, angered Japanese at the large monster-mutant, who in turn started talking in Japanese back at _her_...well, that explains its lack of conversation skills.

At the confusion of everyone to the whole situation, we all turned to Trip to tell us what she was saying.

"Well? TRANSLATE!"

"Already on it," he said, grinning. "She's been saying this: 'You filthy overgrown bastard plant troll! You're one of Dark God's henchmen, which most definitly explains why you're here! Isn't it enough that you've killed my parents in arson just to get me over to your side? Now you have to go so far as to follow me here where I was trying to get a nice life for myself. But no, you couldn't even allow me that! How dare you try and follow me here...have you no decency?' The he says, ' Of course I don't! I'm a monster of Dark God's science; I follow his orders alone. He specifically told me to attack the Power Rangers so that you'd come out; he knows how much you care for kin! He also knows that your brother's the Red Ranger; isn't that nice? Well, I'm just going to have to destroy them, and then you'll have no choice BUT to join us!' Obviously she gets mad so she retorts back with, 'You'll never be able to get me over! I'm Haruyama Akira, the greatest evil slayer in all of Honshu, if not all of Japan! I back down to no one and go to no one's side but the side of good! I joined Soramura's police force to save Japan from the likes of you...but when I realized that I was the one reason Japan was having such trouble with such brutes of your like, I went here, after I had nowhere else to go! And now you follow me here like a cloud of locust! Unluckily for you, the voice of revenge is breathing down my back and rearing its head and filling its energy to right the wrongs that have been caused by such horrible beings such as yourself! You along with Dark God and the rest of his army shall pay, by life's ultimate payment: Death.'"

Everyone blinked.

"Wow...Jen, I don't think you were _that_ angry about Max, were you?"

"No...I never called Ransik that...although God knows that I've thought 'em."

"Okay, maybe you are," I said. "Anyhow, what's she gonna do now?"

"Oh, so now you wonder about my past, brother?" Akira asked, turning around. "Well watch and see what Japan's taught me."

Only then did I notice a holster slung around her waist...along with two guns. She turned around promptly on her heels and faced the plant-like mutant.

"Go ahead," Trip translated for the mutant. "See if I care."

Suddenly we all saw two bullets flying though the air from Akira...but the guns hadn't moved. Sure, the noise had sounded and the bullets had flown...but no movement whatsoever.

"WHAT THE?!" we all screamed.

Trip was the first one to calm down. "Technically...she must be a sharpshooter. They usually have the training to shoot that fast."

"You've got to be kidding me," Lucas said, shaking his head. "There's no way on this earth that someone could shoot _that_ fast..."

And yet she had, giving him two bulletholes to the chest. As soon as he had appeared, he dissapated into a fine dust and floated away, which was unlike Ransik's mutants who grew bigger once their DNA--which that monster had to have shown once she shot right through him--was exposed to the outside air.

She turned around and smiled. "So...see any other monsters like that?"

We all shook our heads slowly.

"Well, are you gonna power down or not?" she asked, tapping her foot, an annoyed look on her face.

"POWER DOWN!" we all shouted, turning back to our normal selves.

Akira, on the other hand, was still quite dangerous. Yet she didn't look so. Instead of the serious look on her face that was shown a few minutes before, she was smiling and running over to me.

"Your outfit looks SOOO cool! Although the spandex sorta freaks me out...but otherwise, you look SO cool! Honest honest HONEST!"

"Whoa, kid...answer me this," I said, waving my hands. "Where'd you learn how to shoot like that?"

"Oh?" she asked, blinking. "Well...it's a long story. Get me my laptop and about a hour to explain and you'll get the full story."  


___________________________

Wes plopped my laptop down on my lap and sat beside me with Jen on the other side. Everyone else was sort of arranged around me; Katie was on my other side with Lucas next to her and Trip was standing behind me, looking over my shoulder holding Circuit so he could see. "So, kid, tell me, how in the hell did you get to shoot so well?"

I typed in the password and waited patiently for it to power up. "Well as I told you, it's a long story, but you said you were all taking about a hour off from _Nick Of Time_ to hear it, so I better deliver."

I took a breath and began. "Back when I was about thirteen, I was going to my first year of secondary school. I was young, pretty spunky, and most definitly not ready to wear a fuku--that's a Japanese school outfit. But I did anyway...Soramura had ugly uniforms. Black and white with a black scarf...well, maybe it wasn't so bad. Well, since I had to go to school for longer hours to get preparted for getting into a top-notch high school, I couldn't help out in the fields as much. Oh, forgot; my parents owned a rice farm. One of the top producers in Japan; chances are, if you buy rice that's from Japan, it's from our farm. Anyway, my parents thought that instead of just coming home to sit on my butt instead of doing something constructive that I should do some volunteer work, and the only place that was open to volunteers at the time was the local police department. Little did I know that's what my parents meant. So I started to go and help about two hours a day for the whole week, Monday through Friday. On Saturdays--yes, we have school on Saturday--I'd go straight home since it's always a half day. I'd be more help on the farm then. There, they taught me how to shoot. At first, I was really crappy at it; thought I'd never get it. But eventually, bit after bit, I got this fast." I then went to RealPlayer and opened up a .mpeg file that the police force had taken to record my shooting speed.

"Watch." I pressed the play button as suddenly the file of me shot as quick as lightning. Everyone blinked for a second.

"Okay, now watch it in slow motion." I pressed "Pause" and then "Play" and it had it going as slow as possible. It showed my index finger going inside the holster, hooking the fingerguard, my thumb going on top of the flint, and pulling the trigger. After that, it showed me flicking it back down into the hoster and my hands going free.

"Now watch again in _normal_ speed." I stopped it and played it regularly.

They watched. Their jaws dropped.

"Yea. There's a reason I got so good, though. Y'see, in Japan there's this group of...well, bad guys. They're led by Darkgami and his Dark Force, the Zodiac Patrol."

"Wait...I thought it was Dark God!" Trip yelped.

"Yea, but that's his whole name...Darkgami. Notice how 'Dark' was said in English? It's his whole name. Anyway, so the Zodiac Patrol's only vunerable to a certain part of the world's population--it can be anyone; they must only have one thing in common--that they have this ONE gene that's able to produce some kind of magic...sort of how you guys are Power Rangers with your DNA makeup. You'll see my, ah, talent soon enough...but one of the things that the Zodiac Patrol's weak against is gun shooting, which I'm obviously plenty tough at. He has twelve 'generals' like there are twelve signs of the English Zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capircorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Each general has monster minons; the Flamers, Vineak, Duoserpents, Blacksirens, Pantherans, Blindfliers, Deathknockers, Venomshooters, Equimutants, Rockers, Sharkmen, and the Aquafighers. The guy that attacked you today was a Vineak, but some aren't as ugly as he; some are pretty, like the Blacksirens, and some are ugly...like the Vineak. Either way, they're most likely to be killed by a good shot, which is why they wanted to teach me how to be a sharpshooter. That way, they wouldn't know what hit 'em."

"Does this mean that we can't help you out?" Katie asked, sounding semi-disappointed, semi-worried.

"Yea...unless if you have that one gene that might prove yourself worthy. All depends. But for the moment, let me handle it, 'kay 'kay?"

"You don't have any other way to protect yourself, though!" Jen said, sounding matronly. "What if you get hurt? How would we bet you tended for?"

"We'll hope to God that it doesn't get to that. 'Sides, my magic keeps me safe. Sorta like a shell...capiche?" Jen nodded but still looked suspicious.

When she was still giving me the 'I don't believe you' look, I grinned and tried to make her smile. "Hey, I know first aid...I'll be a-okay!"

"Fiiine," she said, crossing her arms. I smiled weakly.

We sat there for awhile, being really quiet. Finally, Flip broke the silence.

"How 'bout we go back to work, okay? An' Akira...why don't you join in?"

I smiled softly in spite of myself. "Really?"

"Sure...the more the merrier, little sis'," Wes said, grinning as he pulled me by his side.

"Great, but Wes--"

"What?"

"I...can't...breathe..."  


___________________________

"Ransik, I've decided to pose a proposition," Darkgami said, standing in front of the mutated gene-human, his long silvery claws clicking together.

"What, Darkgami? You said yourself that I was a disgrace to all of the evil in this community...but that might of been just me."

"Well, I figured that you might need some _real_ power. Have you ever encountered one of my Zodiac Knights?" he asked, pointing to a figure in the shadows. Suddenly, a lithe pale-skinned woman came out of the shadows, walking with a sway to her hips and a sultry look in her eyes. Her eyes were pure black with no whites and were glossy and held many secrets. She had long red hair and wore a tight, strapless red dress that flowed to the floor. One hand was normal, but the other was covered by a "sleeve" that started a few inches below her shoulder and ended about ten inches past wherever her hand would be. She walked up to Ransik and put one hand on his shoulder and the other--which turned out to be a large silver claw--under his chin.

"Hello," she said in a husky voice. "I'm Cancer. We'll be working with each other for the next few weeks. After that, we'll rule the world.

Ransik smiled stupidly upon this sudden attention of the beautiful crab-woman. "Aaa...yes. Can't wait."

She smiled, her delicately painted lips forming an evil sneer. "Me either."  


___________________________

I frowned. It had been a few hours since Akira had told us about how she shot so fast and I wanted to ask her some more questions. Unfortunately, she had suddenly disappeared, and it seemed as if I wasn't going to be able to talk to her for awhile. But I really wanted to know...not like sharpshooters were very abundant on my planet.

_Maybe she's at the top of the clocktower,_ I thought, climbing the rest of the steps all the way up to the top. The higher I climbed, the weirder things I saw. There was a pale shimmery light coming from the top landing, and was it just me or did I just see some inanimate objects start to float around in the air?

Once I reached the top, I saw something that definitly struck an impression in my mind.

There, in the middle of the air, was Akira, floating crosslegged in the midst of a pale rainbow-ish colored aura. Around her, like a planetary orbit, was many inanimate objects, like cards, silverware, and hats.

"A...Akira?" I gasped, confused. I then suddenly clasped my mouth shut, upset at myself for disturbing her...I'm supposing it's meditation.

"Nani ka?" she said, her eyes flying open. Suddenly, the cards, silverware, hats, and other things flew back to their original setting places. Akira, however, was still suspended in the air--but not for long.

_Thwump._

There she was, laying right on top of me. This was most definitly an awkward position in my case, not to mention Akira's. She lay there for a second, catching her breath--the fall was from a considerable distance--and then her eyes flew open.

We both turned bright red, needless to say.

Suddenly, before I could say anything, Akira put a finger over my lips as she sat up.

"Do not, I repeat _do NOT_, say ANYTHING about this to everyone else! I'm not sure they can handle it yet!"

"Handle what? Your telekinetic powers?" I said, as if telekinesis was a natural thing in humans.

"Yes, my telekinetic powers!" she said, her eyes wide. "No, the fact that I dye my hair. YES THAT!"

"Don't hafta be so sarcastic," I said, feigning hurt. Her eyes softened and she scooted up closer to me, her arms wrapped around her knees.

"Sorry," she said, looking at her feet. "Although, I bet you know what it's like more than anyone else...you said so yourself that you know how to read minds...well, sorta. Please don't say anything...please?" she asked, her eyes pleading.

Damn, but she was cute. I nodded begrudgingly.

"Thank you SO much!" she said, jumping up and kissing me on the cheek. "Better go help fix dinner, 'kay 'kay?"

As she jumped down the steps, I touched my cheek slowly. Don't remember anyone kissing my cheek like that.

As I walked down the steps after her, I turned red again.

**End of Part III**

Awws...wasn't that cute? ^^; Bet you know what I'm a'fixin' to do, aren'tcha? Muwuahahah...well, gotta jet! Leave any questions and comments, 'kay 'kay? Thankies! - Yoshiko 


	4. Part IV

Long Lost One - Part IV

Long Lost One... **Disclaimer**  


Heh...I don't own the Power Rangers, so there. Phbbt. >.>;;

Part IV

It was a week since I first told everyone about the Zodiac Patrol and ever since, they along with Ransik had been playing it sorta quiet. I was starting to wonder whether they were trying to pull a bogey on us by acting like they were all gone now. In fact, the quiet was making me more nervous than when there was a fight about every day.

Anyway, now I was enrolled in the nearest high school, Public School #46, or to put it in a nicer title, San Miguel High School. Personally, I was wondering whether San Miguel was a real saint, but it was a school, so what else was I to expect? It was just a name; most of the kids said so anyway. At first, they gave me weird looks with my funky hair, wardrobe, and dialect, but now they were treating me pretty cool. There was this one guy that was acting really weird towards me and I didn't like it a bit. He was always following me around...

Like right now. After hearing some footsteps a few minutes ago, I turned around to see that he was following me. It wasn't that he looked bad; it was just that he wasn't my type. He was the type of guy that doesn't say "no" for an answer.

That's what I'm afraid of.

"So, Akira...doing anything tonight." He said it more like a statement of 'You're doing something with _me_' than a question. Mwee...

"Uh dude - and no offense - but what's your name?" I asked, weirded out.

"Name's Brandon Greenwood. Here's my phone number...feel free to call me anytime."

Seeing the clocktower out of the corner of my eye, I nodded quickly and laughed stupidly. "Ah yea...gotta go now, Bran, see ya at school, bye!" And with that, I sprinted towards the tower, headed straight towards the phone.

"Whoa," Katie said as I sped into the house. "What's up, kiddo?"

"Weirdo guy's wanting a date, wanna see whether he's credible or not to be my stalker, capiche?" I said at the speed of light as I jumped onto the phone and dialed one of my new friends, Nadia.

"C'mon c'mon c'mon...pick up pick up pick up - HIII Nadia!" I said, nervously twirling the phone cord between my fingers.

"Hi, Kira!" said Nadia, cheerfully making the word 'Hi' sound like a note out of a bird's morning song. Nadia Kornakov has one of the most beautiful singing voices that I've ever heard; she's the first chair in the best choir and usually gets the main act in the school musicals. She has beautiful curly, blond hair and amber-brown eyes. She's the perfect cheerleader type - but she hates all that. Instead of wearing contacts, which her parents are all for, she wears small half-moon shaped lensed glasses. Occasionally she'll wear her cosmetic contact lenses, which made her eyes red, cat-like, and all kinds of things. She also strictly wears black unless she has to wear a costume for one of the musicals. She had basically taken me under her wing and taught me how to get around San Miguel. I already knew she was going to be my best friend.

"Dude...sup? Uh, care to tell me who Brandon Greenwood is?"

"Oh dear," I heard her sigh over the line.

"Whaddaya mean, 'Oh dear'?!" I yelped, crunching into a ball on the couch.

"I mean, 'Oh dear, my poor Kira's going to get targeted by Bran the Shadow.'. Hon, the guy's really popular; hell, the guy was on the football team 'fore the season ended. Whenever he gets his eye set on a girl, he's detirmined to have her...whether she's on his side of the social line or not. Oi, and it figures...he likes your kind of type!"

"What kinda type?" I asked, worried. I also saw vaguely out of the corner of my eyes that some people were starting to crowd around me. Ghkk...

"Red hair, sorta skinny, has some hips and a bust and a half--"

"Mine aren't _that_ big...Kami-sama!" I gasped, turning bright red.

"Not to mention that when he says 'girlfriend', he expects you to do a little more than's expected," she said, her voice starting to drift.

"You don't mean...oh no. You can't...uh uh!"

"Which is exactly why he's not going to get near you. I've seen your brother...he won't let Bran the Shadow get near ya...and whaddabout your other friends? 'Specially that Katie chick. She could throw him OVER the goal from the other end of the field!"

"Yea...that's nice."

"Besides, you like that kid with the wicked-cool green hair. Trip, right?"

"I DO NOT! He's just my friend!"

"You like him..."

"Do not."

"Dooo toooo..."

"Do NOT!"

"Doo too!"

"DO NOT!" I screeched. "Jaa NE!"

"Bye!" she chirped as I hung up the phone.

Looking up, I saw five people staring down at me, trying to stifle their laughter.

"Are you mocking me?" I choked, blushing.

"It was just the last part, Sis'," Wes said, trying not to snicker but failing.

"I know...it was just so cute, Kira...'Do not!' 'DO NOT!'," Jen giggled, trying to stop.

"But the reason I called was serious! Some weirdo guy wants me to be his girlfriend, but I don't like him! He's a creep! And he won't stop following me! I just wanna be left alone, and this guy's been following me home every day ever since I started school! He's really popular too; if I say that I don't want to go out with him, he might use his influence to make me sound like someone I'm not...and you all know what I mean!"

Suddenly, Wes got a serious look on his face as he sat down. "This true?"

I nodded, sniffing. "He was a football player before the season ended for the year. He's really tall and even though I'm pretty good fighting, he's still able to crush me...and that doesn't sound like a pleasant way to die."

"Well, he's not going to get even remotely close to you," Trip said, sitting in front of me. "We'll make sure."

"They call him 'Bran the Shadow'...creepy," I said, shuddering.

"I said, they won't bother you," Trip said. He held his pinkie out in a guesture of friendship promise. "Promise 'till the end."

"P-promise?" I said, holding out my pinkie.

"Promise." We shook on it.

"But how'll we guarentee that?" Circuit said, flapping his wings. "You're forgetting that you aren't students!"

Trip sat there for a minute and then his eyes lit up. "THAT'S IT!"

Jen grinned, as if she had read Trip's mind - or if Trip had shared his thoughts with her. Turning to Lucas, she put on her authoritarian face. "Lucas, pick up Kira's friend Nadia. She'll be able to help."

"Already ahead of ya," Lucas said, grabbing the keys to Wes's car as he ran out the door.

"You're all crazy," I sighed, shaking my head.  


___________________________

"So everyone, meet Nadia Kornakov," I said a few minutes afterwords, guesturing towards Nadia. She waved slowly, smiling softly.

"Sup, everybody? Some say I'm from Russia, others say Poland. Heh, I say I'm American...oi, that sounded SO much better in my head than outloud. Shalom!"

"Nadia's Jewish," I said to everyone in a whisper. They all nodded slowly, trying to act interested.

"Speak up, Kira!" she said, smacking me on the back. I ran forwards, sputtering.

"Ah...anyway. Kira, meet my, ah, new surrogate family!" I said, guesturing towards Wes, Lucas, Trip, Katie, and Jen. I hissed below my breath, "If you make ANY Trip accusations that aren't true - which means ALL of them - I will have your head on a platter."

"Chill, Kira. I'm gonna help Bran the Shadow get off your back, that's all. Matchmaking's next on my agenda."

I sighed, crossing my arms.

Wes cleared his throat. "Hey! How 'bout you come and talk with us for a bit while...Trip and Kira make dinner! It's sushi, isn't it?"

"YOU'RE REALLY GONNA LET ME MAKE IT? WOOHOO!" I squealed, running into the kitchen. Trip walked slowly behind me as the others went into the room in front of the kitchen.

"So," Trip said, looking at the ingredients; tub full of soaked rice (Wes musta bought it premade from the nearby Asian market.), nori wrappers, avacados, cucumbers, pre-cooked crab, small dish of sesame seeds, and seasonings, "this is all the stuff you make sushi with."

"Yep," I said, pointing towards two stools. "Pull a few up...they're high enough so we can sit down an' roll 'em." He nodded and scooted them up to the counter.

"Okay," I said, "first, you get a bamboo wrapper mat." I pointed to one of the small mats that looked similar to minature tatami mats. "Now watch carefully. Since we're making Cali rolls, you start with rice first. You get a good paddlefull out and press it all onto the wrapper. Make sure it's compact; if it isn't, it'll fall apart. That's the thing with California rolls; since they don't have any nori on the outside, they tend to fall apart. Next, you put a sheet of nori on top. Nori's basically a sheet of dried seaweed. It's not as bad as it sounds. Since it's been soaked a bit, it's pliable enough for me to roll it, but it's not dripping wet. Then, you put another layer of rice over that...you pack it down good too. Next's the fillings. You put a cucumber slice - only one since it's not supposed to be thick and it's long enough to reach both ends -, a few avacado slices, and a thin strip of crab meat in the middle." I held up a bottle of white stuff in a bottle. "I never learned what this white stuff is, but it really makes it good. Squirt some of that on. Now here's the tough part - rolling it tight enough. You start with the end closest to you and you roll out. After you roll the edge closest to you into a pretty compact ball, you scoot the mat back and keep on rolling with the wrapper end always on top. After it's all rolled, you put it back on the wrapping mat and then you cut it into half-inch pieces. After that, you sprinkle the outside with sesame seeds and then you're done." I showed him the finished product on one of my mother's laquered sushi plates. There was enough for eight from what I got over. "Try it."

"Okay," he said, gingerly picking one up. Putting it in his mouth, he chewed slowly. Eventually his face became more at ease. Finally he swallowed and turned to me, a smile on his face.

"Kira, you're a good cook."

"Thanks," I said, turning somewhat pink. "Now you try, Trip."

"Uh...sure," he said. And he basically copied everything I did perfectly, down to rolling it tightly and cutting it perfectly.

"Ohmigod...you're really good at making it!" I squealed happily after munching on his first piece.

"I have a photographic memory," he said, grinning. "Now let's make the others."

We quickly rolled everyone else's sushi and got the table set, complete with some wasabi and shouyu - aka: soy sauce - on the side.

"Minna," I shouted, "dinner's ready!"

As everyone sat down, Wes blinked.

"Hey, doesn't look that bad, actually..."

"Yea...did you actually use _raw_ fish with this stuff?"

"Nope. This stuff's got all precooked stuff...Cali rolls always do," Nadia said, grinning. "Oh yea, Kira. Your 'surrogate family' came up with the coolest system on how to keep Bran the Shadow off your tail!"

"Oro?" I said, looking up from practically gorging myself with sushi.

"Y'see, they explained to me about all the...Power Ranger stuff. Thought since you had candied onto me so fast that I could be trusted, which I thought was pretty cool. So after we compile every single thing that could possibly distract Bran, we'll make this gadget that'll enact all of them enough so you can escape. Mainly, his past girlfriends. Anyway, he'll forget it after a few seconds - enough for you to safely get away. Of course, it'll only work at school for some reason. The rest of the time, you'll have the 'guys' around, anyway."

"I have no idea how you're gonna do it, but it sounds PERFECT!" I squealed, grinning.

"My idea," Trip said, grinning. "Don't worry...I still remember 31st Century technology."

I smiled. "Great! Nip the problem in the bud, right?"

"Yea, you could say that," Jen said politely, her hands in her lap.

"So Trip, you say you're an alien?" Nadia said, still trying to take it in. "I never thought that I'd meet a person from another world!"

"Yea," was all Trip said.

"What can you do? I mean, all aliens have some cool kinda power!"

"Well, I have some limited psychic powers...they aren't as powerful as Kira's telekinesis, though--" He then promptly clamped his hand over his mouth.

"TRIP!" I screamed. "YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T TELL ANYBODY!"

He sat there for a moment, stunned that he had spilled my secret. Then he stood up, just as angry as I was.

"Eventually it had to come out!"

"But _not_ now! Not in front of one of my friends! Now I look like I'm a freak!"

He started to get even more angry, probably exasperated at my good point. "But what if suddenly your powers backfired? No one'd know why you were glowing! They might think you're sick...and then what'd happen? If they'd try to get to you, they'd be instantly repelled by the aura you throw out! Ever think about the fact that you might hurt someone with your powers?"

Ouch. That one hurt.

"Besides," he said, putting a hand on my arm, "the more honest you are with the people you care about, the better it is. Lies like the one your father must of told Wes to keep him from knowing that you existed tear families apart and make people more distant to you. It's better that they know now than later--"

I yanked his hand away. "Don't give me lecture shit! Whenever anyone finds out, they alienate me! Same thing happens all the time...damnit, I can't believe I was so stupid to trust you!" And with that, I ran out of the clocktower.  


___________________________

I sighed, watching her run out. Shaking my head, I silently thought, _Yea, and in some ways, I was so stupid to care enough to tell your secret. But that's_ your _definition of stupid. Mine's different. 'Sides, already started to care now, so I can't really stop._

Turning to everyone else, I sighed. "Better go after her. She might actually get lost."

Wes just nodded. Lucas and Katie had their hands over their faces and for some reason, Jen and Nadia were smiling really oddly for some reason. Creepy.

I nodded back and got my hat and backpack. Once I got outside, it was pretty clear by the tennis shoes tracks in what direction she had started to run. Seeing the bicycle that was beside the tower, I jumped on it and started to follow the tracks.

They turned into an alley about four blocks down and I set the bike down beside the alleyway opening. I faintly saw the flash of the reflective tape of Akira's backpack going farther and farther down the alley. Hmm.

Then suddenly I saw a bright flash of light and a scream. Running down, I saw a horrifying sight.

Akira was trying to fight one of her monsters - she had pointed it out to be one of the Darksirens. Yet the Darksiren had the upper hand by one small variable:

Akira was pinned on the ground by a very large hunk of concrete.

Turning around, her face froze in horror almost at seeing me right behnd her.

"Trip...for the love of Kami-sama, don't stay here! You'll get hurt!"

"And you aren't?" I protested. "I told you that you shouldn't run off," I scolded in return, shaking my finger.

"Trip," she sobbed, "RUN!"

**End of Part IV**

^^; Yes...it's going along quite well, ne? ^_^ So adorable...*cackles manically* Ano...any questions/comments are VERY welcome! *grin* - Yoshiko 


	5. 

Long Lost One - Part V

Long Lost One **Disclaimer**

  
I don't own Power Rangers Time Force; Saban and Toei (I'm assuming that's the group that made the show.) do. ^_^ Yay yay yay...? ._.;;

Part V

Damn Trip. Damn stubborn Trip. Did he listen? No. He walked forward.

"I'm more able to fight than you are," he said. "POWER UP!" And there instead of Trip was the Green Ranger. Upon thinking about it, he was the same person, but yet at the same time so very very different. Maybe it was the helmet.

Anyway, he first got out his V Laser and blasted away the concrete. Then, he tried it on the Darksiren. And as predicable as rain, the Darksiren deflected the attack as if she was a mirror and Trip had shot at it. He jumped over the reflecting beam and closer to me.

"Trip, I told you...you shoulda left when you had the chance!" I cried, worried that he'd get hurt. What would they say if he had to go to the hospital and they saw the spot on his forehead? Or even worse, if he had weird body parts under his clothes, like fins on his ankles or a hidden tail? We'd be in big shit then!

"For once, I'm deciding to be as stubborn as you are," he said simply, pulling out two large clock-hand like...things.

"Interesting choice of weapon, but y'see, no one but I can destroy the Darksiren," I stated, standing up.

"And why not?" he asked, frowning. "I have a 'magic' of sorts."

"But you're not from this century! And you aren't born in a specific time period...it's all very complicated. Even out of all the many thousands of people on Earth now that might have some kind of special ability, only a few can go up against these guys! They're mainly in Japan and around my age. It's too hard to explain now but--" The Darksiren then did a very stupid thing--

It pinned Trip to the wall.

Trip started to groan and revert to being a normal person.

"HEY! You!" I shouted at the Darksiren. "What in the HELL do you think you're fuckin' doin'?!"

"My job," it hissed quietly. "To bring you back with no witnesses."

"Put my friend down," I stated angrily.

"Why?" it asked as it started to press Trip further into the wall. He started to groan some more and he was starting to become paler.

"You'll be sorry for ignoring my order..."

"Huh--what the?"

I pulled out an all-too familiar strip of paper. "Fire, element of man. You are the driving point of every warrior. Fire Talisman, by my birthright as Akira, hunter and destroyer of all the evils of the Zodiac Police...DESTROY THIS DEMON!"

And suddenly, everything became a fiery blur.  


___________________________

Akira was starting to chant. She was starting to chant something weird. Since I was getting the energy sucked out of me, everything was starting to become fuzzy. Yet when suddenly, a large fire-bodied phoenix blasted the black-bodied woman with the body of oil, I looked over to Akira.

She was glowing with the same shimmery opalistic light, but in the middle of her forehead was an interesting three-lined "character" of sorts, that looked like this: i. It was glowing blue, which I found interesting since she used fire as an element of attack, which is usually denoted by the color red.

The Darksiren, in the meanwhile, was smoldering into cinders on the other side of the alleyway.

Akira allowed the small strip of paper that had induced the large fiery bird attack upon the Darksiren into her hand and then, and only then, did she calm down.

Looking up, she ran over to me, her forehead cut and bloodied with a couple of bruises.

"Trip, you okay?" she asked. Yes, after she almost got the shit beat out of her, she asked _me_ whether I was okay or not.

Then again, I almost had the life sucked out of me, so maybe that was a smart thing to ask.

"Pshhh...I'm fine. Whaddabout you? You're bleeding like a stuck pig, to quote a book I once read."

"I'm what?" she asked, confused. I managed to get a tissue out of my bag and stick it to her forehead. As soon as it got bright red all over - which only took a few seconds. Once I showed her it, she made a face.

"Well, why don't we both try to get back home, okay?"

"Sure," I said as I started to lift her up.

"I don't need to be helped up," she said, standing up. "I'm fine."

"Yea, but will you be thinking that after walking a block towards the clocktower? Uh uh...I'm carryin' ya there, kiddo."

"No you aren't!" she shouted, a stubborn glare on her face.

"Yes, I am," I said. "And I'm going to put this over your damn cut!" I took out a big wound cyllindar-shaped thing of cloth bandage and started to wrap it around her head.

"Will you just stop it?!" she protested. "I'm FINE!"

"No you aren't. You're in denial. Now come on...your ankle's got to be killing you. You're favoring it." I pointed down to her right leg, which was the one that was pinned under the concrete.

"So what? I'll be f--PUT ME DOWN!" she squealed as I picked her up. "Stop it!"

"Now be a good girl and let me get you home, okay? Okay!" I said as I started to walk down the street.

"I am _so_ going to kill you," Akira said as she crossed her arms.  


___________________________

"Owww," Trip and Akira whined as I put some peroxide on both of their cuts.

"Jen-san," Akira complained, "D'ya hafta put on THAT much of the stuff?"

"Yea," I replied, putting more of it on the cut. "Otherwise, it'll get infected. Now be still."

Akira nodded and gritted her teeth. Trip did the same thing, but then again he hadn't been saying much.

"Akira, how in the hell'd you get so beat up?" Nadia asked, touching her ankle, which was swollen to twice its size.

"Long story. Uhm, you should probably be going..."

"Can't," Nadia said. "Already asked my parents if I could stay over. They said yes."

"Oh...well in that case, we'll have to get a futon out for you," Akira said, reaching for her bag and pulling out a curly-furred teddy bear and squeezing it tightly. "Itee..."

"There there kid," I said as I started to put a nice small Band-Aid on her forehead. "You'll be okay in a second...now we might have to mend that ankle there, if it isn't just sprained."

"Whaat?" she said, hugging the teddy bear tighter. "Oh God..."

I felt around the ankle gently, trying not to hurt her too much. Satisfied that no bones were broken, I got out an elastic bandage and started to wrap her ankle up. "After this, we'll put on a brace and then you'll be able to get ready for bed."

"O-okay," Akira said in a small voice as she hugged her teddy bear. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Lucky Trip carried you over here," I said. "Otherwise, your ankle might of gotten in worse condition than it already is."

She just nodded. Nodded and blushed. The blushing part was what was interesting, especially because Trip was becoming about as red as she was. Ohohoho...so some two people had a crush on the other one. How cute. The sad thing was, they both didn't realize it. >.>;;

I slid the plastic brace over her foot and secured the Velcro fastenings. "Okay kiddo, you're ready to do whatever."

"Doumo--I mean, thanks, Jen-san." She went off to get a shower.

I looked at Nadia. Nadia looked at me. We both looked at Trip. We nodded simotaneously.

Trip was confused. "What are you two thinking?"

"What's it? Oh yea...sore wa himtsu desu," Nadia said coolly as she walked into the other room with me.

"Care to tell me what that means?" I asked Nadia as I pulled up a chair at the dinner table.

"Sure," she said. "Means, 'It's a secret.'."  


___________________________

"So Jen, you're probably thinking exactly what I'm thinking, for the most part about this Akira and Trip thing, right?" I asked, smiling all-knowingly.

"The way you look, you seem as if you think that they need their drivers' liscences."

"That too," I mused. "But 'nuff with the wisecracking. Know anything about matchmaking?"

"Not particularly," Jen said. "I'm more of a specialist on how to finish missions then how to get people that like each other together. People were usually doing it to me, actually..."

"Hey! Even if you have outside experience, it's still experience!" I exclaimed. "Now see here, I'm going to go up after Akira has her shower and stuff. I'm gonna ask her questions and stuff...oh, I'll get SO much dirt!"

"Is that a good thing?" Jen asked, giving me a weird look.

"Think about it. If I find out what she likes in a guy, and it all leads up to good ol' Trip over there, we'll both know whether she likes him or not! Then I go and find out what Akira likes to do on dates...woohoo! It's pure genius," I said, sitting back in my chair, satisfied.

"You okay, kid?" Jen said as she scooted her chair away from the table. "You're starting to scare me."

"I scare lots of people, but I have a feeling not for the same reasons."

"You're meaning looks," Jen said, pointing to my current outfit of cut-off shorts, black halter top with high fingerless gloves that go up to my elbows and a see-though black lace long-sleeved shirt to go over it all.

"Yea. Looks. Kira says that I could be really popular if I aimed to...and I know I can. But I don't want to...popularity's not as fun as it's cracked up to be. You know where I'm comin' from, right?"

"Have a feelin'," Jen said, smiling.

"What've you two been talking about?" Akira said, standing in the doorway with her pajamias, which consisted of plaid pants and a gray athletic shirt with faded Japanese writing on the front.

"Oh...just stuff," I said, winking at Jen. She grinned and winked back.

"Ookay...why don't I just show you where to sleep for the night, okay?"

"Fine with me," I said, smiling.

"Yea," she said. "Whatever floats your boat."  


___________________________

"So, Kira," Nadia said, laying on the guest futon, "what do you like in a guy?"

"Whaaaat?" I asked, blinking.

"Yea. What d'ya like in a guy?" she asked sweetly, turning over on her stomach. "I was just curious."

"Well...I...uh," I stumbled, hugging my teddy bear closer to myself.

"It's a simple question, Kira...what kind of qualities in a guy make you wanna drool? Or at least kidnap 'em so you can have them as your own for the rest of your life. Hmm?"

"Well...I guess they have to be intelligent enough to hold up decent conversation," I said, fiddling with the quilt. "Good looks wouldn't hurt, either. Guys that dye their hair are pretty cute...and if they like what I like, that really gives you brownie points. They have to care about me and put up with all the stuff I make people go through. THat's all, I guess. They have to be funny too...or they at least have to try."

She nodded. "Oh...well, what d'ya like to do for fun?"

"Blade," I said. "Watch movies. Fix computers. Beat up nosy friends that try to fix me up with people. Stuff like that."

"Ha ha. Very hilarious. I'm not doing that, though, honest."

"Sure. ANd I don't have red hair. 'Night, Nadia..."

"KIRA! I'm NOT!"

"Good NIGHT, Nadia. I'm going to sleep now...oyasumi."

"KIRA!"

**End of Part V**

PHuu...that sorta sucked cos I'm runnin' outta energy...x.x;; I'm not genki anymore..o@_@O;; Well, post your questions/comments whenever, 'kay 'kay? I'd really appreciate 'em! - Yoshiko 


	6. 

Long Lost One - Part VI

Long Lost One **Disclaimer**

  
I dun own Power Rangers Time Force. Wooo...^^;

Part VI

Bran the Shadow had been ignoring my distractions for the last hour. I had pressed the button time after time, but he kept on saying, "Oh, I can talk to her later," or "The *something-something* meeting can wait for you." By the time it was the end of eighth, I thought I was going to scream.

"I'll pick you up at eight for a movie, right?"

"Haven't you been listening?" I asked, aggrivated. It had been a few days since the alley fight and now my ankle was much better. "I'm not interested, you moron!"

"No, _you_ don't."

"Do I really? Then understand this!" And with that, I punched him in the "high school" parking lot.

"You bitch!" he yelled.

"Yea, I know I am!" I said, slugging him in the left temple. "Your point is?"

He tried to grab me and pin me, but I uppercutted him. "Leave me the fuck alone, Greenwood!"

"If you're not going to see the light now, maybe I should show you what you SHOULD be doing!" he said, pinning me against a car. I kneed him in the groin, which sent him falling to the ground groaning. I pinned him by sitting on him as I started to punch him in the face repeatedly. Since it was out of school, I wasn't going to get in trouble. It wasn't on school property either; the parking lot was a block down. It was only the high school's parking lot because only falculty was allowed to park in the real high school's parking lot, so all the kids parked here.

He started to punch me in the face too, but I punched him back after that. As soon as Brandon tried to take another slug at me, I felt two arms pinning me back.

"WES!" I screamed. "STOP IT!"

"Stop fighting and I will!" he said, holding me back. "Even though I know who he is," he said in a lower tone in my ear.

"Thanks," Brandon said, standing up.

As Wes put me down, Trip walked up and punched him.

"Bother her again and then you'll really get a beating...by the five of us," Wes and Trip said as Lucas, Katie, and Jen walked up, frowning at Brandon.

"Really?" he said, trying to mask the fear in his eyes.

"Yea."

It was quiet for a few minutes before we all broke up and everyone started to walk towards home. Nadia had decided to come home with me and was giggling delightedly at our fight.

"Guess we won't need the BranDistractor anymore, will we?" she said, giggling. "He knows you mean buisness...he's afraid of you now."

"Really?" I said, turning red.

"We're serious though," Wes said, putting an arm around my shoulders. "We won't let him do that, promise."

I smiled. "Thanks."

As we all walked in, I waited for Trip, who was at the end. Smiling softly, I said, "Uh...well...thanks for punching him for me."

He grinned. "No prob."  


___________________________

"So I wasn't exactly telling the full truth when I said that about anyone could be part of the Demon Hunters--that's what they call people like me," Akira said as she spread out a twelve-sectioned piece of paper that was diagrammed with the twelve signs of the zodiac on top. Hmm...does this mean that Akira's a _mahou shoujo_? (That's magical girl in Japanese, I found out. Having her for a best friend's pretty cool.)

"In the year 1984, there was a special conjunction on the first of the year that caused the year to be enchanted by some means. At the beginning of every European zodiac cycle of that year, that child born in the first hour of the first day of the zodiac cycle was chosen to be one of the Demon Hunters. I was the second child born--a Pisces." She pointed to the second part in the diagram. There was a picture of her there, but the odd thing was that the diagram was yellowed with age and she had large wings. In fact, all of the people in the diagram had wings. None of the other children looked familiar.

"Do you know any of the other Demon Hunters?" Wes asked.

"Nope," she said. "They're all scattered about the world. I have to keep an eye out, though, to see whether they might surface for some reason. I have a feeling that we might need them all here for something."

Everyone nodded solemnly, taking in all of her information. Suddenly she spread out four slips of paper with kanji inscibed on them in red, blue, silver, and green.

"These are my talisman--strips of paper that help me fight the Zodiac Patrol. This one," she said, pointing to the red one, "is _Hi no Mamori_, or Talisman of Fire. The blue one's _Mizu no Mamori_, Talisman of Water; silver one's _Kaze no Mamori_, Talisman of Wind; and the green one's _Chi no Mamori_, or Talisman of Earth. Each are four elements represented in the European Zodiac."

"Interesting. Does everyone have Japanese-printed ones?"

"No. I've heard of ones printed in Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, French, Russian, and of course English. They all say the same thing, though."

"Hmm," Jen said. "Interesting."

It was quiet for a minute, until my stomach growled.

"Aaa...I'm hungry?"  


___________________________

Cancer was sulking.

"Damn...we're going to have to attack while the Rangers're fighting...think you can do that, Ransik? Or are you just plain going to sit there on your damned ass not doing ANYTHING?" she wailed, pacing back and forth inside the room.

"Be patient," was all he said. "Besides, I have a plan...the little Akira brat can't fight my mutants and the Power Rangers can't fight your Darksirens...I was thinking. If I got out one of my mutants named Sergant Squid, I believe that could help.

Cancer's eyes lit up. "Well what are you waiting for, you dolt?! Do your cyrogenic thing!"

"I was getting to that!" he said, going over to the cyrogenic chamber and talking out one of the pods. Placing it in the regeneration chamber, he told one of the robots to make it real. Soon, the process was under way and after the smoke had cleared, a large eight-foot-tall red squid-headed monster with the upper torso of a well-muscled man, waist of tentacles, and strong beefy legs walked out of the chamber. He had black cargo pants that fit tightly on his legs with large combat boots, an ammo belt around his shoulder, and a big hat and sunglasses on his face.

"General Ransik SIR! You called SIR! What can I do for you SIR?" he shouted in a military bark.

"Make as many of your Oil Troops as you can. Then, attack at the warehouse. Understood?"

"Yes SIR!" he shouted with glee as he ran out the door. He barely noticed Nadira on the other side, eavesdropping.

_Hmph,_ she thought. _Before Daddy met that Cancer bitch, I was his top girl. He always consulted_ me _about any and all of his military moves to take over the world! And now, he's consulting this pretty girl with tight clothes and pale skin. She thinks she's all that. Well, I'll show her. Even if it means helping those damned Power Rangers and their new angel child, I'll do it...just so long as they destroy Cancer! I'll have all of my Cyclobots attack all of Sergent Squid and Cancer's stupid oil people...and then, I'll have them destroy her!_

With satisfaction, Nadira stood up and waltzed off to find her Cyclobot army.  


___________________________

"How 'bout we go clubbing?" Nadia suggested. "It'll be fun!"

"Clu-whaaa?" Akira said. "Oh yea...clubbing. Never been before."

Everyone blinked at Akira.

"Even _I_ have and I'm sorta the geek of this group," I said, leaning back and laughing.

"Well, exCUSE me! I lived in a really small town," she said, sniffing towards the end.

"Well, clubbing is when you go to a club...and you enjoy yourself!" I explained, which basically covered it. She looked as if she was going to throttle me for my "simple" explanation. Oh well...at least she got it.

"That's nice. I guess it wouldn't hurt."

"Well, it's not like it's going to bite you in the butt once you go in," Katie said, trying to conceal her giggle.

"Of course it isn't," she said, sounding annoyed. "It's just that I need a dress. I left all my fancy outfits in Soramura. They were too bulky to bring..."

"That's no problem," Jen said, grinning. "We'll just have to go shopping! Find you a decent dress...shouldn't be too bad."

"And I still have plenty of money in my checking account," Wes added. "So we can buy you something nice."

"Does that mean that _everyone_ has to come?" she asked, looking uneasy.

"'Fraid so," Wes said, grinning.

"Hnn," was what Akira replied with. Well, didn't she just sound happy?  


___________________________

My eyes popped open wide. We were going to shop at such a large place as Bloomingdales? Aaaa...I've heard of this store. Bloomingdales's a really famous store; who _wouldn't_ hear about it?"

"Are you sure...?" I asked uneasily, walking into the store, making sure not to touch anything.

"You _are_ a country girl," Wes said, putting an arm over my shoulders. "Don't worry; we'll make you a city slicker in time."

I sighed at how corny that line sounded. I hated shopping anyway; I always looked horrible in whatever I chose. Then again, I usually went alone, but I was always self-consious about how I looked in front of others. Therefore, I usually ended up picking out something grotesque that I thought looked fine. Everyone usually said I looked pretty but dead in whatever I chose. O_o;;

Suddenly a crash was heard outside. Naturally, the party of us all swiveled around to see whoever was making the racket; our ears were well-tuned for evil and such. I slitted a narrow eye to see many white-faced black female-shaped blobs attacking shoppers out front.

"AAAA~! Darksirens!" we all cried, running out front.

"But only you can fight them off," Lucas said, waving to all of them.

I frowned. "I don't like this. There's too many of them...Cancer can't mass-produce this many Darksirens. This doesn't smell right."

"Well, try!" Katie said. "Least you can do is try."

"I guess so," I gulped, taking out the water talisman. Stancing, I threw it towards the mass of supposed Darksirens.

"WATER ATTACK...RELEASE!"

Sure enough, a flood of drowning water with stinging ice and venom surrounded them...but they all stood!

"I can't fight...any other monster...than the Zodiac Patrol's," I said in stunted breaths as I backed into the wall, fearing the worst.

"That means," I gasped, "that...they're someone else's monsters!"

"**Exactly**," they droned. "**We are Sergent Squid's Oil Troops**."

Why do I have this gut feeling that they weren't supposed to tell us that? >.>;;

Suddenly they roared towards me, all turning to one large Oil Woman; not a Darksiren characteristic. I thought I was going to die until--

"OOOFUUUU~!" I squealed as the one and only Green Ranger pushed me "out of danger". Turning around, he blasted the laser at the large blob and it started to dissolve.

"Leave this to us, okay?" he said, making an exaggerated thumbs-up.

I just shrugged and looked around the blob. There, standing behind the Oil Troops was the Real McCoy, the Darksirens.

As they started to get closer to the Rangers, I knew that they were powerful enough to eat them up and spit them out since their attacks couldn't possibly have any effect upon them. I saw on close down on each of them...Wes, Lucas, Trip, Katie, Jen...

It was like I heard another person scream their names. And another one that started the transformation. Then again, you never really expect yourself to become a magical girl; that's not supposed to be possible.

"Wind Talisman," I shouted, "you are the one who realized my power! You are the first to have found me and the first to give me my magic! Wind Talisman, give me my wings to fly!" I then threw out my talisman. It split in two and flew to my back--or more like I spun around and it flew to my back. Anyway, they landed between my shoulderblades and budded to become glowing shapes soon flashed to show white and folded. They looked soft...like they were covered with feathers. They must be my wings!

"Water Talisman, you are my guardian element! Protect me from all attacks upon myself by becoming my armor!" The Water Talisman flew out of my hands and became liquid blue light as it coated my forearms, exploding with light, and then became solid arm guards.

"Earth Talisman, you are sturdy and strong, a good base for anything. Fire Talisman, you are often the element of fighting, with your fiery nature. Earth and Fire, combine to make my weapon of destruction!" The Earth Talisman elongated, becoming a sturdy staff with a shiny blue jeweled "knob" at the top. The Fire Talisman became white hot and became very very long. The both of them connected at each of their ends, melding together. As they flashed with the same bright light, my wings spread out and--

I was out of shoujo world and into the real one.

Examining my sword, I noticed that it had intricate blue fire designs racing up the middle of it as well as it having and intricate blade guard. It was also the same height as myself, so I'd have to take a lot of strength to wield it.

I lifted it high above my head and swished down on the first Darksiren that came my way.

Okay, so maybe I wouldn't have as much trouble with it as I thought I would.

"HYAN!" I squealed, swishing the sword down on two Darksirens. "KYAH!" I chanted as I cut down five. As one started to get aggrivated and make a silver dagger of itself out of its hand, I lifted myself off the ground with a kick and flew as I suddenly wielded the sword to my side and I glided over the parking lot with my sword, effectively cutting all of them down. As I landed, I turned around on the ball of my foot and stanced with my sword out; my left leg pretty much doubled over on itself with my right stretched out for balance and my right arm holding my sword out with my left out on the other side for balance. My eyebrows furrowed, I murmured something softly:

"Magic, dissolve."

And it did.  


___________________________

"Wow," said Wes. "She wasn't too bad on the warpath, now was she?"

"She can FLY!" Jen said. "Even we can't do that by ourselves. But she...she has _wings_ when she flies! How amazing is that?"

"Pretty," said Lucas calmly. "Pretty amazing. But let's not get hung up on ourselves here."

I snorted. "Why should we get hung up? Akira's a great fighter! We're lucky that we have her on the team!"

Lucas just nodded slowly, as if he couldn't care less.

"Ano...minna? How d'I look?" said a soft voice from behind the door. Someone opened it and out came Akira...but she _wasn't_ Akira.

She had on a pretty electric blue slipdress that ended at about mid-thigh that had pretty ruffles at the hem. She had also managed to get her hands on some nice blue platform shoes...and she barely looked like the person she usually did. Usually, she...just...didn't dress up as much.

"You...you look really nice," Wes said.

I had the urge to say, "Well, duh."

**End of Part VI**

Phuu! Until further notice--Monday at the latest--I won't be able to work on the Power Rangers fic! >P Why, you ask? Cos I have a really long report to write and it might take me all weekend! I won't have time to write anything else, so please be patient for Part VII, onegai? Dankuuuu! - Yoshiko 


	7. Part VII

Long Lost One - Part VII

Long Lost One **Disclaimer**

  
I don't own either Power Rangers Time Force or Catch You, Catch Me from the Card Captor Sakura soundtrack. ^_^;; Ahehehe.

Part VII

I swear, I was about as bright as a tomato when I came out of the dressing room. It felt like everyone was...well..._staring_ and stuff.

"So, Miss Haruyama, you like this?" the clerk lady said as she circled around me a few times. "It suits you."

"I...uh...thank you," I murmured, blushing. "I thought it was a nice dress."

"Since you saved the store, I insist you take it for free!" she said.

"AAA! That wouldn't be right!" I protested, waving my hands.

"No, we insist!" the clerk lady said. "With your bravery along with all of the Power Rangers', you were able to fight those funny black things single-handledly! Please, take our gift. It's the least we could do to show our indebted gratitude towards your act of courageousness!"

"I...uhm...thank you for the gift," I said lamely, feeling guilty that she thought she had to pay me with gifts for my "job". It was just like in Soremura...just like there...

"No, thank _you_ for saving me!"

It was my job. I didn't need thanking.  


___________________________

"We decided to go to a karoke bar! Well, since you've never been clubbing and you've probably done karaoke, we thought, what the hell, ne?" I grinned, clapping Akira on the back.

"Uh...thanks for your consideration, Wes," she said dully, looking at her feet. She seemed troubled.

"Okay, li'l sis'?" I asked, frowning.

"Watashi wa maa-maa desu," she said dully, sitting down. "I mean, I'm fine. That's basically what that means, anyway." She glared at Trip so he wouldn't either agree with her translation or re-translate it for us. He just nodded meekly and looked at the table.

"So...what'cha wanna eat tonight, everybody?" I asked, rubbing my hands together. I had managed to get some money from my account to get everyone a pretty good meal. Everyone looked at the menu, which was filled with stuff like hamburgers and chicken sandwitches.

Akira was the last to order, frowning from each choice to the next. Finally, she pointed to a nice-looking chicken sandwitch. "I'll have that."

"Okay," I said, grinning as I waved over a waiter and took everyone's order. When he came over, Akira managed to get the waiter's attention by just coughing slightly.

"Yes, miss?" the waiter said as he put into inventory what everyone wanted.

"Are the people at the karaoke stand here allowed to bring their own music to sing to?" she asked, smiling a little bit; the first smile I had seen since she had bought her dress earlier that day.

"Well...as long as it doesn't have any profane language in it, it's allowed here," the waiter said. "Feel free to sing what you want."

She grinned. "Thank you!"

As he walked off, she ran up to the karoke stand and put her CD in that she had obviously been hiding in her purse. As the song started to pump out, she turned to the crowd, grinning. It was a happy-go-lucky song and it was obvious that she had sung it a lot of times by her enthuastic smile and body language. It was even more obvious when she started to sing the words...because they were in Japanese. Her voice was pretty, though; it had a beautiful clear tone and seemed to smooth all the rough corners in life. The song started to float throughout the room...

_Aitai na  
Aenai na  
Setsunai na  
Kono kimochi  
Ienai no  
Iitai no  
Chansu nogashite bakari_

Datte  
Datte  
Tsubasa hiroge futari de  
Sora wo marason  
Yume wo yunizon shitai

Hora **CATCH YOU CATCH YOU CATCH ME CATCH ME** _matte  
Kotchi wo muite suki da to itte  
_**SO NICE TO MEET YOU GOOD TO SEE YOU** _kitto Atashi no omoi anata no haato ni tonde tonde yuke  
Mayowanai_

Tama ni ne Nakunatchau Karada no batterii  
Anata no egao de itsu mo juuden mantan  
Pawaa bakuhatsu shichae

O-negai  
O-negai  
Mazu wa o-tomodachi kara  
Waratte mitsumete tanoshii mainichi ni shitai

Hora **CATCH YOU CATCH YOU CATCH ME CATCH ME** _zettai  
Unmei datte  
O-niai datte  
_ **SO NICE TO MEET YOU GOOD TO SEE YOU** _kitto  
Dare ni mo makenai  
Anata ni sekai de ichiban ichiban ichiban ichiban  
Koi shite 'ru_

-+- Bridge -+-

Hora **CATCH YOU CATCH YOU CATCH ME CATCH ME** _matte  
Kotchi wo muite suki da to itte  
__ **SO NICE TO MEET YOU GOOD TO SEE YOU** __kitto  
Atashi no omoi anata no haato ni tonde tonde yuke  
Mayowanai_

Hora **CATCH YOU CATCH YOU CATCH ME CATCH ME** _zettai  
Unmei datte  
O-niai datte  
**SO NICE TO MEET YOU GOOD TO SEE YOU** __kitto  
Dare ni mo makenai  
Anata ni sekai de ichiban ichiban ichiban ichiban  
Koi shite 'ru_

She then ran off the stage, smiling but embarrassed. Everyone clapped not just because it was polite, but that she actually sang good.

_See?_ I thought. _See Akira? It's not_ that _ bad here._  


___________________________

I had absolutely refused to sing.

"C'mon, Trip!" Wes said. "It'll be fun!"

"Yea, for you," I had pointed out.

"Your voice is WONDERFUL!" Katie said, trying to pull me out.

"It sounds horrible!" I protested, being stronger-willed than her for once.

"Stop being such a party-pooper!" Jen and Lucas said at the same time.

"How 'bout you guys sing and he stays behind?" Akira piped up. "Maybe he just doesn't want to do it, OKAY?"

"Well," the all said. "Okay..."

As the walked up to the karaoke stand, I turned to Akira, who looked mildly irritated.

"You okay?" I asked, worried.

"Yea. I'm fine..." she said dejectedly, her eyes distant. Finally she sighed and turned to me. "Trip, have I ever told you about my past?"

"I...I...I don't believe so," I said, a thoughtful tone in my voice. Upon thinking about it, I hadn't. In fact, except for knowing that her parents lived on a rice farm and that she lived in the countryside of Japan, I didn't really know that much about her past.

"D'ya wanna know?" she said, her voice soft and almost afraid.

"Well...sure," I said, scooting a little closer.

"Read my mind," she said, lifting her head up, meeting me eye to eye. Her eyes glared into mine, as if daring me to read her mind...see inside her soul. It was like her eyes were saying, "Go ahead...make my day!"

"Cl...close your eyes, Akira," I said. "Be calm so I can be consistent. The more chaotic your mind is, the more chaotic of a reading I get...okay?"

"Okay," she said, bowing her head, her long, curly eyelashes drooping over her eyes onto her cheeks.

It was dark once I concentrated and there was no sound except for the small, distant tinkle of a music box. As the music drifted, so did the light. The black void lightened into a view from a small yellow room on a small shelf. As if I was floating on the music box's tinkling music, the view went around the room to seeing face-to-face a small Akira in a mint-green kimono with small pink cherry blossom flowers as a print and a silky pink obi - or sash - around her waist. The cord around her obi was a gold color and so was the embroidery for the tree trunk on the kimono.

_When I was little,_ Akira's mind said, _we used to go to the local Sakura Festival - y'know, cherry blossoms - every year. 'Kaasama'd dress me up in my favorite kimono with the sakura on it - sakura's my favorite flower - and we'd go to the courtyard in the middle of Soramura. Every year, I'd dance._

"'Kaasama," I'd ask, "how long until I get to dance in front of the mayor?"

"Not too long," she'd reply, ruffling my hair. It was cut short then and I often dressed it in small pig tails on the side of my head with a strip of hair in front hanging down on each side and bangs in front. 'Kaasama said I looked adorable like that. I'd just blush and say nothing.

We'd go get my parasol and I'd do a small dance dedicated to the spring goddess who visited our small and humble village every year, bringing us the not-so-humble Gift of Life and Fertility. Of course, I just knew this is what happened with the changing of the seasons and not just because of some goddess, but I danced anyway because it was fun and I felt I was doing something important for my heritage. My blood may be American, but if I wasn't Japanese in the heart, I would of had someone shoot me.

Every year, I'd do that dance. The kimono'd change...from light blue with the sakura tree on it to yellow, pink, light violet, and about every other color under the rainbow. The last dance I did - which was about a year ago - I got mad at my mother at right afterwords.

"I don't WANT to dance this year!" I had screamed, trying to run to the other end of the house. "I'm sick of this childish tradition!"

"The mayor only likes you dancing, Akira! Now don't be so foolish. Get into your kimono and dance!"

"Let some other kid do it!"

"No one else knows the dance, Akira! Now just go out there and do this!" My mother was very patient. Finally I caved and put on my kimono and went. I danced half-heartedly that night and even though everyone knew my heart wasn't in it, they clapped and said it was beautiful anyway. I knew different.

A few months after that, I was working at the police station when I heard from the fire station that there was a fire at Ishida Drive - my house. (We called it ishida since that means rocky rice paddy, which ours sort of were when we first came here.)

I remembered running...running...running. Running like there was no tomorrow, I tried to get there to help, but by the time I got there, no one would let me through. I had beat the fire trucks, however. I tried to get through, to save my mother and father...

"NO!" they shouted. "Stay away, Akira!"

I heard a laugh...a thick, hoarse laugh from the midsts. An odd man with the head of a goat was walking towards the rice patties. I saw his hand glowing bright red...I knew it was he who had started the fire. I tried to go after him, but the villagers wouldn't let me, trying to protect me again. I cried. I had never cried before, even after my grandmother had died. Once the fire department had finally gotten there and doused the fire...they were gone. Forever.

I stopped from there and lifted up Akira's face from the chin.

Her eyes were glistening with tears.

"There there--" I started to say before she threw herself on me and started to sob.

"I hadn't...told anyone," she gasped between sobs. "No one...knew...no one...I thought...cared..."

"Shh," I said, patting her head. "Sure we care...we all care...shhh...there..."

Since we were in a corner of the place, barely anyone paid us any heed. But even if we were in the middle of the karaoke bar, I would of felt like we were in the middle of that black void that was her memories, just the two of us, with her sobs echoing in the dark, dark place...  


___________________________

When we got back to the booth, both Akira and Trip were gone. Trip had left a note, in his quick, scribbly handwriting:

_Wes, Lucas, Katie, and Jen;_

Akira got really tired because something upset her, so I took her home. Don't worry; we're right at the clocktower and no where else, honest.

Trip

"Well, that's comforting," I said, folding my arms. Wes sighed and put his arm around my shoulder.

"I'm sure Trip's fine, Jen. My sister wouldn't take advantage of him."

"That wasn't what I was talking about," I said, giving him a weird look. "I meant that Akira got really upset. I faintly heard some crying while we were singing...maybe that was Akira. We should probably get home...I don't like the idea of her being upset with Trip. What if she wants to...heaven forbid...uh, say, kill herself and Trip can't stop her?"

"I don't think that Akira's that unstable, Jen, but we'll go home and check on her," Wes said, sighing. We all paid the check and went out to walk home. It was a long, quiet walk home, with my thoughts mostly on whether Akira was okay or not. She was almost like a little sister now, so I was a bit protective.

When we got home, Trip was downstairs. As soon as we stepped in, he put a finger to his mouth.

"Shhh. Akira's out cold," he whispered, going upstairs with some slippers. "Or rather, I thought she was. I'm bringing her some hot tea just in case. She started crying in the bar after she asked me to read her memories about her past. It was really upsetting...I don't blame her."

"You did WHAT?" Lucas half-whispered, half screamed. "Trip, that wasn't--"

"She ASKED me to!" he said, half-way up the stairs. "So just...shut up!"

Lucas sighed and plopped down on the couch. Wes went to help Trip, but Trip stopped him.

"I'll take care of her, Wes. You rest...you've worked hard today," he said lamely, backing up the stairs.

"Okay," Wes said dully, going down to sit beside Katie, who had sat down beside Lucas. I, being the smart person I am, waited until Trip went upstairs to sneak behind him and spy under the doorway.

"Mmm...Trip, you should rest. I'm fine," I heard Akira say, sitting up. "My head's just stuffy from crying, s'all."

"Shh...when I'm upset, it usually makes me feel better if I have something that comfort me that reminds me of home. You said you drunk tea a lot, didn't you?"

"No, but I do. Thanks," she said, sipping it. As Trip sat down beside her, Akira rested her head on his shoulder.

I sighed. They would make a wonderful couple.

**End of Part VII**

Awws...^_^ Wasn't that cute? I thought it was cute...adorable, adorable, adorable! ^.^;; I got done with the report yesterday, so I'm proud of meself! n.n;; It's not too bad! Anyway, I hope that yousah like da ficcie! n.n;; Hehe! Dewa mata neee! n.n;; - Yoshiko 


	8. Part VIII

Long Lost One - Part VIII

Long Lost One **Disclaimer**

  
As much as I bet you'd love for me to own Power Rangers Time Force, I don't. I _do_ own Haruyama Akira and her friends/foes...saving the Rangers, of course. ^-^;;

Part VIII

I couldn't believe that Nadia had actually _talked_ me into trying out for a sport! I thought it was uh...against our "friend religion". >.>;; But here I was, in my old one-piece swimsuit, out for the newest diving position. I had let it slip that I had been sorta good at diving and had won a few medals at my old school. That gave Nadia some ideas...

"You'd be GREAT at it! I can't believe that I didn't think up swimming as your gift sport, Akira! Hellooo! Your element IS water in that weirdo Zodiac thing...I should of SO known! And it's perfect for you too! You're so graceful and stuff, it's amazing that I DIDN'T think it up before!" she said, fully embarrassing me even though no one was there when she had said it...well, except her and me, anyway.

Now I was standing here, listening to her blab about how proud she was of me and crap. I thought I was going to cry from the torture. Not that Nadia isn't my best friend or anything, it's just the fact that she's making such a fuss that's embarrassing.

"You look WONDERFUL, Akira!" Nadia squealed. "Now you show 'em who's boss!"

"Yea..." I muttered, walking over to the springboard and putting my hands on the handrails of the steps. "Boss..."  


___________________________

"Did we make it in time?" I asked Nadia as we all filed in and watched the tryouts. Despite the fact that Akira had practically begged us NOT to come, we defied her anyway and came. Trip looked particularly excited, but it wasn't like I wasn't either. After all, she _is_ my kid sister, even if it's only by one parent.

"Yea, she's goin' up the stairs right now," Nadia said proudly, pointing up at the springboard. Sure enough, there was Akira in a navy blue one piece with black panels around the neck and on the sides of the swimsuit. Her hair was tied up in a simple ponytail and her face was stony and unnoticing of anyone there. Then again, if I was diving off of a thing that was twelve feet up, I'd ignore everybody, too.

She stood rigidly on the end of the board, her arms out so she looked a bit like a "T". Then dropping her arms and giving herself a springboard, she jumped forwards and somersaulted neatly in the air, diving cleanly into the water...just like an Olympic swimmer.

Everyone gasped.

"She didn't splash," Trip said. "Is that a good thing?"

"It's a really good thing," Nadia said grinning. "The more clean-cut your dive is, the more points you get."

She dove again and again, doing a backwards somersault, twists where her body was rigid and she twirled in the air in an indescribable way before she cut into the water, dives where she somersaulted while having her legs like a "V", pikes, and numerous other dives, all showing how good she was. Not once did any of the water rise from the surface more than an inch and all this time, Akira kept a conpetitve face.

Yet her grand finale was truly a grand finale.

Standing on the end of the board, her back was to the crowd. Her feet were placed at each side of the board, firmly planted there. Usually, her feet were anchored close together in the middle, so this was odd.

Suddenly, she put her hands down in the middle and rose herself up on the end of the board so she was doing a handstand _on the end of the board_!

Nadia's eyes grew wide. "She wasn't lying when she said she just got a few awards...she was understating. I've only seen Olympic divers do that dive!"

"THAT'S A REAL DIVE?!" Trip half-exclaimed, half-shouted. Nadia solemnly nodded and put her hands in her lap.

Suddenly, she pushed off with her hands and did a somersault, diving clean into the water yet again, the water barely budging for her melting through it.

As she swiftly cut through the water and lifted herself from it one more time, the judges met her at the edge.

"Miss Haruyama, consider yourself the newest diver at San Miguel High. It's a pleasure to have you on the team."  


___________________________

"WOOOOHOOOO~!" I whooped, grabbing Kira's wrist and thrusting it upwards as I held up a big mug of my favorite drink, Orange Cloud - a mixture of orange pop and vanilla ice cream mixed up together into a delicious shake - in the other hand, holding it in position for a toast.

"Let's toast to Akira's success!" I shouted, thrusting my Orange Cloud into the middle of the table. Everyone else's glasses clinked - except Akira's.

She tried to slide under the table. "How 'bout let's not?"

"Too bad!" I cheered, hugging her shoulder to my side. "We're celebrating your successes!"

She just sighed and sunk deeper into the cushy pleather-covered resturaunt bench-like seat that we were all sitting on. It was rounded because we were all sitting around a round table in the corner of the pizza parlor we were at.

Soon the pizza came - one pepperoni, mushroom, and tomato for half of us and just plain cheese for the other - and we all started to scarf it down excitedly, talking among us.

Akira, on the other hand, just sat quietly in the middle, eating one piece off of each pizza that was ordered and sipping her own Orange Cloud in her mild manner.

Occassionally, we'd all try to strike up some conversation, but she just stayed quiet. I suppose she just wasn't used to talking about her "wonderous talents". She'd just smile or nod but not really say anything. Maybe se was sick...? Who knows.

Anyway, we finally paid the bill and went out of the pizza parlor. Akira seemed semi-relieved and finally made a comment.

"Food's not too bad there...maybe we should go back sometime, ne?"

She still looked faint. Little did I know that soon, I'd learn about why she was so nervous.  


___________________________

No offense to my best friend, but I wish she'd shut up about my talents.

Anyway, I was looking out nervously for what was ahead. I was worried that someone was going to attack us now...and I had this gut feeling that it was going to happen soon.

And as if to surface my fears, a black figure floated down from above.

"Ah...Akira. Remember me?" a silky voice murmured from the darkness.

"C...Cancer...? Cancer!" I gasped, backing into my friends. "Wh - why aren't you being Ransik's little bicycle?" I hissed sarcastically, trying to cover up my fear of my friends being hurt.

"What? What in the hell does that mean?" Cancer hissed back, confused.

"Y'know...why aren'tcha lettin' Ransik ride you right now? Or is he just too exhausted with him doing it for weeks on straight?"

"You little bitch," Cancer hissed, now the venom coming out and practically dripping down, burning the pavement. "Too bad you can't kill me, I bet you're thinking," she clipped, her eyes turning into slits.

"Why should I, when I have two bastards to fry?" I retorted. "Eventually, all of us'll come together and then you'll all die...eventually, you'll be dead depending on whether your opposite kills you or not." I smirked. "Either way, our world'll be one less a bicycle to ride."

She lunged at me, furious.

"RUN!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, hurring them to get out of there.

Being them being...well, Power Rangers...it was like talking to a wall. And Nadia looked like she was going to piss her pants the way she was looking at both me and Cancer. I sighed and turned to them.

Trip was giving Cancer the Glare of Death; Wes, Katie, and Jen were frowning like hell; and Lucas was putting himself between Cancer and Nadia. Nadia, in the meanwhile, didn't look to entirely upset about this.

I got out my guns and twirled them around a bit before approaching Cancer. "I don't appreciate you ambushing me with my friends. To show you my distaste, I'll show you THIS!" And with that, I started shooting like there was no tomorrow.

Cancer shot back with a "general" venom attack, about coating everyone if I hadn't thrown out a water shield. Good thing too; the stuff burned through most of the brick fronts of the buildings that we were fighting between. They wouldn't of survived, that's for sure.

"Everybody...GET OUTTA HERE!" I screeched back. "Or at least Lucas...Lucas, get Nadia outta here!"

"But--" Lucas protested, trying to walk towards me.

"GET HER OUT!" I screamed at him, giving him a death glare. "I want all of you OUT OF HERE NOW!"

Most of them started to back away right about then, but Trip was stubborn.

"I'm not _going_," he protested. "Unless if you're comin', that is."

"Get OUT of here!" I hissed, half to scare him away, half because I was so pissed at him. "NOW!"

And then, Cancer broke the shield.

And she jumped Trip.  


___________________________

I groaned, slowly coming to. I had no idea where I was for a moment, but then I focused on my surroundings.

I was in the Clocktower, with everyone smiling down on me. Everyone...

Except Akira.

In fact, that was the first thing I asked everyone:

"Uh...where's Akira?"

"Hm...come to think of it, I haven't seen Akira in awhile...I thought she said that she was gonna take a little walk, but a little walk doesn't take two hours of your time."

Lucas frowned, combing his hand through his hair. "I thought I saw a note on the bulletin board that I hadn't seen before. I didn't really pay any mind to it until now."

I instantly got up and went down a flight of stairs, limping a bit, still sore from the attack.

Once down there, I saw a small slip of paper with Akira's familiar eccentric scrawl on it. Grabbing it, I sat down in a chair. The back was cold; they took off my shirt because Cancer had done quite a blow to my right side, so now I was sitting there with a cold chair on my back. It actually felt good because of all the cuts on my back...

But I digress.

I picked up the small piece of paper - well, not entirely minature, but it wasn't a regular-sized piece of paper - and began to read:

_Minna-san,_

Upon tonight's sudden attack upon us all and with me only being able to fight off Cancer, I decided that I should relocated back to Japan for residence. I shouldn't of said that, but it's hard to find people in Japan as is because of overcrowdment. So there. Nyah. As much fun as I had with all of you, I'm afraid for your injury because of the fact that only I can fight off the Zodiac Patrol. Please don't look for me. I'm doing this to protect you.

I'll miss all of you...please don't forget me. Maybe I'll be able to visit you once this all quiets down.

Sayounara,  
Haruyama Akira

"Well, that's a lotta bullshit," Lucas snorted.

It was quiet for awhile. Then I spoke.

"We have to look for her."

"Hey, maybe this IS for the best!" Jen prostested. "She did this because she thought it'd be best for all of us. Usually Akira's really rational--"

"USUALLY!" I shouted, pounding my fist on the table. "But not now! She wasn't doing well today...she was too quiet. There's something wrong. And we need to help her!"

"Buuu--"

"I'll get the money for the tickets," Wes said. "We'll leave in the morning."

**End of Part VIII**

Sorry for the long wait, minna. I was just sorta running out of ideas, capiche? >.@;; That wasn't good, was it? That and there's my other fic, [Geisha Seishi][1], that people want me to write in. (BTW - Go read, onegai? ^_^ I want tons of comments from minna-san! ^-^) I also just got out of school, so I've been busy with last-week activities. ^o^;; Hopefully Part IX'll be faster for me to produce. Dewa mata ne! ^_^ - Yoshiko 

   [1]: http://geishaseishi.cjb.net



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